Archives for category: books

As someone who has taught a range of Sunday school classes, from preschool through high school students, I was glad to receive a free copy of Nelson’s Complete Book of Bible Maps and Charts as part of the Booksneeze book review program.

Often, when talking about the places Jesus traveled as He taught, healed and ministered, or in describing the journey of the Israelites in the Old Testament, it is helpful to have a visual illustration.  Complete Book includes many different maps, photos and helpful summaries — including a map that shows the geographic location of major events in Jesus’ ministry, the apostle Paul’s journeys and the wandering of the Israelites.

Since Complete Book of Bible Maps and Charts is slightly larger than other books (a little over 7″ x 9″), I can see how it would be a helpful teaching tool for a class of eight to ten students to view pretty easily.  Complete Book also includes a link to free downloads of all the maps and charts included inside the book — again, very helpful for those preparing to teach Sunday school classes.

Chris Seay, lead pastor of Ecclesia Houston and co-founder of the Advent Conspiracy, explores the overarching themes of mystery, faith and spirituality in the television series Lost in his recently released book, The Gospel According to Lost. [Scott Erickson, artist in residence at Ecclesia Houston, painted the image to the left, along with other “icons” of characters from the series, for the book.]

The Gospel According to Lost is a thoughtful engagement of the series written from the perspective of a fan (although, non-fans could probably read and enjoy this book as well).

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My experience, within mostly evangelical Protestant circles, with practices such as Sabbath, fasting and the liturgical year has been limited mostly to academic study and/or suspicious caution. That’s why I was glad to see the Ancient Practices series released, which covers many of these practices. As followers of Jesus, we miss out immensely when we ignore the wisdom of those who have pursued Christ wholeheartedly before us.

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Here is an encouraging update regarding the whole Deadly Viper storm that’s been brewing for the past couple of days from Eugene Cho:

I had some good dialogue with Mike Foster yesterday and then a conference call later in the afternoon with Mike Foster and Jud Wilhite (Authors), Chris Heurtz (Director, Word Made Flesh), Soong-Chan Rah (Prof., North Park), Kathy Khang (InterVarsity Multi-Ethnic Ministries Director), and Eugene Cho (Pastor, Quest Church). The conversation was facilitated by Nikki Toyama-Szeto (Urbana 09 Program Director).While I had to click out about 40 minutes into the hour conversation, I was encouraged by the honest conversations from everyone involved and the shared conviction that we did not want this to be a one hit (one chat & out) wonder a la Men at Work (remember them?).

You can also see a bit more on the Deadly Viper blog and from Professor Soong-Chan Rah’s blog.

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Looks like we’re back on the same treadmill here when it comes to dealing with ethnicity (specifically Asian Americans) and the church…

The Crime & The Cover-Up

Mike Foster and Jud Wilhite wrote a book called Deadly Viper Character Assassins: A Kung Fu Survival Guide for Life and Leadership, published by Zondervan, and have launched a corresponding website.  While they seem well-intentioned (raising up leaders with integrity), their use of Asian stereotypes and, worse, their defensiveness and refusal to acknowledge any mistakes after this was pointed out, are — to put it mildly — extremely disappointing.

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